Festa della Salute at Basilique

Join us at the Basilique Playhouse on Saturday, November 14th at 1pm and 5pm SLT for an early celebration of Festa della Salute, Basilique style. There’ll be candlelight, there’ll be dancing, there’ll be elegance, there’ll be sexiness! What else would you want from a Saturday in Second Life!

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Basilique, like most towns in Northern Italy. was gripped by horrific plagues in the 17th Century. The particular plague this festival commemorates originated in the nearby city of Montova.

Despite huge efforts to quarantine the town, the plague allegedly travelled to Venice via a carpenter who quickly perished, along with his entire family. This soon spread to other Venetians, quickly infecting and killing 100,000 of them.

Venetians turned to their religion. A procession was organised in which 10,000 survivors participated. They walked incessantly around Piazza San Marco for three days and three nights, with lighting candles and carrying torches.

Conditions were indeed desperate. Finally a pronouncement was made that if the city escaped total devastation, a temple would be constructed of unparalleled size and beauty. In the following weeks the epidemic slowed, and within two weeks it diminished altogether.

Gladly adhering to the pronouncement, the Venetians quickly agreed to a location for the temple – or church as it became – and the building was completed 20 years later: The Salute Church.

Naturally, Northern Italians continue to celebrate the date of the churches’ consecration (November 21st) to this day. Always eager to step out of the interminably long shadow cast by their big sister Venice, Basiliquers hold their slightly more risque festival one week earlier – on November 14th.

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Canary Beck has been an active Second Life resident since 2007. She is an SL blogger, artist, creator, merchant, sim owner, researcher, filmmaker and performing artist. Offline she works as a London-based internet marketing consultant and business owner.